Shelving.



TED STATES .itllhllilll GEORGE HOLDEN, 0F MERCHANTVILLE, NEVI' JERSEY,ASSIGNOR TO MERRITT @c COM- PANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

einen.

Specification of Letters Patent.

SHELVING.

Patenten Non. litt, Go.

Application ledApril 3, 1907. Serial No. 366,123.

To all whom. it 'muy concern:

Be it known that l, GEORGE HOLDEN, of vMerchantville, county of Camden7and State ot' New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Shelving, ofwhich the following is a specitication. I

More particularly my invention relates to a combination of parts,preferably oi metal, which may bc easily assembled together to form a..shelf structure without` the use of screws, bolts or other similarpositive fastenings.

.lt also relates to the combination oi such Shelf structures together toform a unit of shelving, and to the combination of such units in theformation of extended shelving.

It, also relates to features ot' construction by which the shelving isrendered especially adapted for book racks or shelves in libraries, andto features of adjustment by which space may be econoniized.

ln the drawings: Figure l is a perspective View of a section ot dou .leshelving embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal Section on theline A-A oi' Fig. l; Fig. 8 is a vertical section of one of the verticalposts showing one of the end supports carried thereby; lt`ig. il is anend elevation of one oi the end supports with its post; Fig. 5 is a rearelevation of part'. ot one of the end supports and shelf piece showingthe preferred form ot' interlocking joint; Fig. 6 is a longitudinalvertical section on the line B-l ol` Fig. 5; Fig. T is a horizontalsection of one corner ot' the shelving showing the post, end

piece and part ot one shelf piece; and Fig. S is a similar viewillustrating the connection ot' successive sections.

o are the vertical supporting posts which are provided with a series ot'openings I) to receive the end supports c. Thes end supports areprovided at the upper part of the inner edgewith a hook or notchedextension d which is inserted in one of the openings t) in the post withthe notch engaging the lower edge of the metal of the post at theopening; the lower portion ot' the inner edge of the end piece restsagainst. the surface of the post as shown at e. The end pieces 0 whenapplied to the post, extend radially from it.

f are. the shelf pieces which are supported at their ends by the endpieces or supports.=md for this purpose the end pieces are provided attheir lower edges on the inner side with supporting llanges g. To securegreater rigidity l prefer to provide these [langes and the ends of theshelf pieces with interlocking means. As shown, the edge of the tlange gis turned up at an angle as at g', and the ends ot' the shell.lpieces'are provided with complementary angular tlanges l1. .in end pieceis slipped on each end of the shelf with the tlangcs /t inside of theangular edge y (see Fig. 5), and to prevent disengage nient l providesmall lug at. the inner ents of the tlanges of the shelf ends which areIadapted to snap over the edge y oit the end pieces. Other means otuniting the shelf and end pieces may be employed. or the sheli" and endpiecesjmay be integral.

In erecting the .shelving two posts a are employed and the end piecesare attached to these posts by hooking the portions (Z in the opening`l). as has been described. Each Shelf portion with its end piecesconstitutes a shell section and as many of such sections may be attachedto the posts, one sheli1 above another.y as may be desired. To allow forvariation in the number ot shelves and the adjustment. ot' thc, verticaldistance between them. I provide theI posts with a series oit openingso, so that adjustment may be made by changing the points` ot suspensionot the shelf ends.

rl`he shelf portions f are prelerablv pro vided with an nptnrned tlangef at the bark. rlfhisI is desirable tor book shelves as. it allords astop and support `for the front edge. ot the hook. rlhe front edgesmaybe suitably tin ished or bent over as shown at. (dig. ti).

This bent-over edge. also forms a stop 'for the.

front. ends oi the angular interlocking tiangcs of the end pieces, whichwill thus` be locked between the edge 7' at the ironty and the lugsl z'at thel back.

The most desirable form of book shelving one in which the shelves extendon eacll side trom the central vertical plane of the, posts; this isreadily obtained by means orp my construction, by similarly arrangingend pieces c and shelves f on the opposite side of the posts as shown inl. The shelf flanges j" ot shelves in the saine horizontal level willthen be arranged back to back` and will form a longitudinal divdingpartition to keep each row oiC books in position on the proper shelfportion. lt is also a special dvantage of this construction that whiledouble shelving may thus be obtained, the shelves in each set areadjustable independently of the Shelves in the other set, and theshelves in one set may be spaced farther apartvertically than those inthe other. This affords great economy of space in a librar)v as itIenables each shelf -to be adj ustedto the right height for the books itis tohold,

and there need be no loss of space by using unneelssarily high shelfspaces for short books.,V

To extend the shelving longitudinally a Second set of end pieces c isattached to the outer post (t, as shown in Fig. S, and another post a isadded for the end pieces for the outer ends of the second set ofshelves. The construction and manner of supporting are exactly thesanne, except that each intermediate post is made to support two sets ofend supports c, and for this pu'rpose theI openings 7 are madesullieientl)v 'wide to receive the two hooked ends (Z.

The posts L may be secured in any oonveillent mann l1'; but or thispurposel have shown a two part sheet metal pedestal. The

two parts m. '/t are provided with vertical sockets m n which embracethe post. The

two parts are then fastened together-and are secured to the iioor byfiangeso.

l What I Claim is as follows: l l. In metallic shelving the combinationof i trio end pieces each provided at the upper ,part of the inner edgewith a portion adapted for suspending said end pieces and having anupturned angular' flange g on` the inner side of its lower edge. and ashelf piece provided at its ends with a complementary angular flange JLadapted to engage the liange gi of the end pieces and having a lug' atone end adjacent to the angulai- 'flange /L adapted to engage i7 end ofthe flange g oi the end piece.

ShelvingA consisting of a pair of nprig'hts. a pail' oi shelfsupportingr pieces extending radially in diainetrieall)Y oppoeitedirections ironi each upright, and a shelf piece carried b v thetu'osupporting` 'pieces on `each side, theinner edges of said shelf piecesmeeting in a vertical plane through the uprights and having an upturnedllange 7" fiorniing a longitudinal dividing rib bet\\ een theshelf-pieces.

ln testimony of which invention7 I have hereunto set my hand'. l

GEO. HOLDEN.

Q ,A lVitneeses:

Romani* O. Fonsr'ru.

-g DANirL l?. MALoNni.

